On November 14, 2017 GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTXI) reported financial results for the third quarter of 2017 and highlighted recent accomplishments and upcoming milestones (Press release, GTx, NOV 14, 2017, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2316925 [SID1234522065]).

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"During the quarter, we achieved a key milestone for the company when we reported positive results from our first clinical trial in stress urinary incontinence," said Robert J. Wills, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of GTx. "Remarkably, 18 out of 18 women who received enobosarm for 12 weeks responded. These responses also appear to be durable, lasting months after dosing. These exciting results provided the basis for our recently initiated, placebo-controlled clinical trial of enobosarm for the treatment of SUI."

"Recent data suggests 50 percent of women report SUI, for which there are no FDA-approved pharmaceutical therapies. An orally-available therapy would offer numerous advantages over existing treatments including surgery, and would provide a significant new option that many women would choose in order to address this medical condition," said Kenneth M. Peters, M.D., Chairman of Urology, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and the principal investigator in the trial.

Third Quarter 2017 Clinical Highlights and Anticipated Milestones

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI):

Enobosarm, a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM), is being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical development for SUI, the Company’s lead indication. Recent important milestones are summarized as follows:

Reported positive results from the Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) clinical trial of enobosarm 3 mg administered orally in post-menopausal women with SUI. With the inclusion of the final patient completing treatment in the POC clinical trial, data from the 18 evaluable patients completing the required 12 weeks of daily treatment showed a clinically meaningful reduction (50 percent or greater) in stress leaks per day, compared to baseline. The mean decrease in stress leaks per day was 81 percent overall (5.17 mean leaks/day at baseline to 1.0 mean leaks/day at 12 weeks).
Patients are being followed for an additional 28 weeks post-treatment to assess the durability of treatment effect. Durability of response for patients who completed the 28-week observation phase has resulted in a 41 to 100 percent reduction in stress leaks/day from baseline (N=6). For those patients who have not completed the 28-week observation phase, the durability of response, measured beginning 4 weeks post dosing, continues to be sustained.
Highlighted the Phase 2 POC results at the International Continence Society (ICS) annual meeting in a poster entitled, "Kegels in a Bottle: Preliminary Results of a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (GTx-024) for the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Post-Menopausal Women", which subsequently was voted best poster for the conference.

Initiated a second clinical trial, Assessing Enobosarm for Stress Urinary Incontinence Disorder (ASTRID): a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 trial to assess the efficacy and safety of two doses of enobosarm (1 mg and 3 mg) administered orally in post-menopausal woman with SUI compared to placebo. The primary endpoint of the trial is the percentage of patients with at least a 50 percent reduction in mean leaks/day, compared to baseline. This trial is expected to enroll approximately 400 patients across 70 clinical sites in the U.S. Top-line results are expected to be available by the end of 2018.
Breast Cancer:

Enobosarm is also being evaluated as a hormonal therapy for women with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and androgen receptor positive (AR+) breast cancer in a Phase 2 clinical trial for this advanced breast cancer population. As reported earlier for the 9 mg cohort, the Phase 2 trial pre-specified threshold for success, clinical benefit response (CBR), was attained and therefore met the primary efficacy endpoint. In addition, the 18 mg cohort has also met the primary efficacy endpoint. The trial has now completed enrollment of the predefined number of evaluable patients in both dosage arms with at least 44 patients in each of two cohorts receiving 9 mg or 18 mg daily doses of enobosarm.

In the 9 mg cohort, following 24 weeks of treatment, a total of 14 patients achieved a CBR out of 49 evaluable patients confirmed as AR positive (28.6%), with two patients achieving a partial response and 12 reporting stable disease. Currently, four patients in this cohort remain on study. In the 18 mg cohort, with 48 evaluable patients, 12 patients achieved a CBR (25%) at 24 weeks with one patient demonstrating a partial response and 11 patients reporting stable disease. Three patients remain on study in the 18 mg cohort. Both doses of enobosarm appear to be safe and generally well tolerated. A complete summary of the study results will be submitted for presentation or publication in 2018.

Although both the 9 mg and 18 mg cohorts met the primary efficacy endpoint in the Phase 2 clinical trial, after evaluating the drug development environment for breast cancer, where treatment paradigms are shifting to immunotherapies and/or combination therapies, the Company has decided that the time and cost of conducting the necessary clinical trials for approval in this indication do not warrant further development of enobosarm in this indication at this time.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD):

SARMs have also been evaluated in preclinical models of DMD, in which GTx SARMs have increased lean muscle mass and physical function. The Company is pursuing a potential strategic collaboration with biopharma companies experienced in orphan drug development to continue the development of a SARM for the treatment of DMD.

Prostate Cancer:

The Company has a Selective Androgen Receptor Degrader (SARD) preclinical program to evaluate its novel SARD technology in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The Company has ongoing mechanistic preclinical studies designed to select the most appropriate compound to advance into a first-in-human clinical trial.

Third Quarter 2017 Corporate Highlights and Financial Results

During the quarter, GTx raised net proceeds of $45.6 million in a private placement of its common stock and warrants to purchase its common stock. GTx sold 5,483,320 immediately separable units, comprised of an aggregate of 5,483,320 newly-issued shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to 3,289,988 additional shares of common stock. Both the common stock and warrants have been registered for resale with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of September 30, 2017, cash and short-term investments were $53.6 million compared to $21.9 million at December 31, 2016.

Research and development expenses for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 were $5.9 million compared to $4.6 million for the same period of 2016.

General and administrative expenses for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 were $2.6 million compared to $2.3 million for the same period of 2016.

Net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2017 was $8.5 million compared to a net loss of $6.9 million for the same period in 2016.

Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was $21.2 million compared to a net loss of $10.9 million for the same period in 2016. The nine months ended September 30, 2016 included a non-cash gain of $8.2 million due to the change in fair value of the Company’s warrant liability. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company modified its outstanding warrants with no further adjustment to the fair value of these warrants being required.
GTx had approximately 21.5 million shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2017. Additionally, there are warrants outstanding to purchase approximately 6.4 million shares of GTx common stock at an exercise price of $8.50 per share and approximately 3.3 million shares of GTx common stock at an exercise price of $9.02.

AmpliPhi Biosciences has filed a 10-Q – Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)] with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .

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On November 14, 2017 Seres Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRB), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson), and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (Parker Institute) reported a collaboration to evaluate the potential of Seres’ microbiome therapies to improve the outcomes of cancer patients treated with currently-available immunotherapy (Press release, Seres Therapeutics, NOV 14, 2017, View Source [SID1234530894]).

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The collaborators plan to initiate a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study at MD Anderson, sponsored by the Parker Institute, in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. The clinical trial will evaluate the impact of an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor with adjunctive microbiome therapy on patient outcomes. Seres is developing SER-401, a preclinical stage oral microbiome therapy comprising a rationally-designed consortium of live bacteria, to improve the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy.

Published studies provide preclinical and clinical evidence demonstrating that the composition of bacteria in the gastrointestinal microbiome may impact response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy.1 On Nov. 2, 2017, Science published research by Jennifer Wargo, M.D. and colleagues from MD Anderson indicating that the composition of the gut microbiome may influence checkpoint inhibitor response in melanoma patients.2 This research also demonstrated that the favorable microbiome properties found in checkpoint inhibitor responder patients are able to be transferred to mice. The results provide support for the clinical study of microbiome therapeutics to augment the clinical benefit of cancer immunotherapy.

Seres also received an exclusive option, with pre-defined financial terms, to license intellectual property rights from MD Anderson related to the use of bacteria in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.

"MD Anderson, and in particular Dr. Wargo’s laboratory, is leading the charge to better understand the microbiome and the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors," said Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., President, CEO and Chairman of Seres. "We look forward to combining our insights and capabilities with both MD Anderson and the Parker Institute to advance microbiome therapies to augment Immunotherapy in cancer patients toward the clinic, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients facing life-threatening tumors with significant unmet medical need."

"Immunotherapy has represented an important advance for melanoma and other cancers. However, in the majority of patients, the response is not adequate to durably control disease," said Jennifer Wargo, M.D., Associate Professor of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson. "Modulation of the microbiome is a promising approach that may improve the therapeutic benefit of checkpoint therapy."

"This collaboration between the Parker Institute, Seres and MD Anderson exemplifies the mission of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy to unlock the promise of immunotherapy by rapidly progressing next generation treatments into clinical trials," said Fred Ramsdell, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy. "If this novel approach is successful at altering the microbiome and more importantly, also leads to better cancer patient responses to immunotherapy, this would mark an important milestone for the entire field."

References

1. Chen C. and Mellman I., Elements of cancer immunotherapy and the cancer-immune set point, Nature, 2017
2. Wargo J. et al., Gut Microbiome Impacts Response to Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy in Melanoma Patients, Science, 2017

TapImmune has filed a 10-Q – Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)] with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Filing, 10-Q, TapImmune, 2017, NOV 14, 2017, View Source [SID1234522072]).

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On November 14, 2017 Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American:ATNM) ("Actinium" or "the Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for safer myeloablation and conditioning of the bone marrow prior to a bone marrow transplant and for the targeting and killing of cancer cells, reported that the Company has launched its AWE Program or Actinium Warhead Enabling Program (Press release, Actinium Pharmaceuticals, NOV 14, 2017, View Source [SID1234522039]).

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The AWE Program is designed to provide biopharmaceutical companies with access to the Company’s proprietary AWE technology platform in order to allow development of actinium-225 enabled conjugates wherein targeting agents are labeled with the alpha particle emitting radioisotope, actinium-225. Utilizing the AWE Technology Platform, the cell-killing power of targeting agents such as antibodies, peptides, Fab fragments, nanobodies etc. can potentially be improved via labeling with actinium-225. In addition to increased efficacy, these actinium-225 enhanced targeting agents can offer optimized dosing or administration and in the case of approved targeting agents, provide an opportunity to extend intellectual property protection by the creation of "Biobetters" or improved versions of the approved agent. Actinium is currently conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial for its drug candidate Actimab-A and a Phase 1 clinical trial for its drug candidate Actimab-M, both of which are fruits of the AWE Technology Platform and are comprised of actinium-225 labeled to an antibody that targets the antigen CD33 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma, respectively.

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Recently, Actinium announced that it successfully labeled the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab, a blockbuster therapy for patients with multiple myeloma, with actinium-225. Stability and target engagement was similar between the unlabeled and actinium-225 labeled antibody, demonstrating that the Company’s AWE Technology can successfully label a CD38 targeting agent without disrupting binding. In-vitro experiments with both the labeled and unlabeled antibody were performed in the same cell lines that initially established daratumumab’s proof of concept. In each CD-38 expressing cell line, improved cell killing was observed with the actinium-225 enabled daratumumab. The previous maximum reported cell killing was 62% with the naked daratumumab. However, at 1/10 of that antibody concentration the cell killing was 97% with the actinium-225 enabled daratumumab. Additionally, the cell-killing effect demonstrated both a time and concentration dependency. Importantly, specificity is demonstrated as no cell killing was observed when a cell line that does not express the target CD38 was treated with the actinium-225 labeled daratumumab. Data from this study were accepted as an abstract for poster presentation at the upcoming 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Meeting Annual which can be viewed in the following link: View Source

Sandesh Seth, Actinium’s Chairman and CEO said, "The element actinium-225 is tremendously potent yet highly specific given its short path length, making it the ideal warhead for oncology indications when labeled to monoclonal antibodies. Through the development of our drug candidates, we have gained significant expertise and know-how in the application of actinium-225 and we look forward to providing our proprietary technology and highly specialized know how and supply chain capabilities to potential partners via our AWE Program. This expertise is evidenced by the recent results showing that actinium-225 increased the cell killing power of the blockbuster multiple myeloma antibody therapy daratumumab at 10-fold lower antibody concentration in Daudi cells. We are currently utilizing our technology toward generating potential "Biobetters" of selected commercial targeting agents and believe that our technology can be applied to a significant number of antibodies, peptides, Fab fragments or other targeting moieties. We look forward to working in collaboration via the AWE Program with biopharmaceutical companies that would like to increase the efficacy of their commercial or development stage antibodies to improve patient outcomes and also to better manage the lifecycle of their commercial antibodies."

About Our Actinium Warhead Enabling Technology Platform

The Actinium Warhead Enabling (AWE) Technology Platform enables a highly potent and selective form of targeted therapy that combines the powerful alpha-emitting radioisotope actinium-225 with targeting agents, which are designed to seek out cancer cells in the body that express particular markers. Actinium-225 emits significant alpha radiation making it a potent treatment modality against targeted cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissues as its radiation travels extremely short distances in the body. When labeled to targeting agents, actinium-225 can be delivered directly to cancer cells where the high linear energy transfer resulting from the emission of alpha particles results in irreparable DNA double stranded breaks and ultimately cancer cell death. Despite this superior cell killing power, actinium-225 when delivered in a targeted manner is sparing of the surrounding environment in the body due to the short path length of its alpha-particle radiation and can result in a superior safety profile. Actinium Pharmaceuticals owns or has licensed the rights to several issued and pending patents that pertain to its AWE Technology Platform including technology to manufacture actinium-225 in a cyclotron. In addition, the Company obtains actinium-225 from various sources such as the U.S. Department of Energy at Oak Ridge National Laboratories and has developed considerable know-how, expertise and validated processes related to production of radioimmunoconjugates, management of the supply chain and dealing with various regulatory bodies. The AWE Technology Platform can be utilized to potentially improve the cell-killing power of targeting agents such as antibodies, peptides, Fab fragments, nanobodies etc. via labeling with actinium-225. In addition to increased efficacy, these actinium-225 enhanced targeting agents can offer optimized dosing or administration and in the case of approved targeting agents provide an opportunity to extend intellectual property protection by the creation of "Biobetters" or improved versions of the approved agent. The Company’s Actinium Warhead Enabling (AWE) Program can be accessed by biopharmaceutical companies that are interested in creating Biobetters through the utilization of the AWE Platform Technology. To learn more about the AWE Technology Platform or the AWE Program please contact Keisha Thomas, Ph.D., Corporate Development at [email protected].